High Blood Sugar, Diabetes, and Your Body

When you have diabetes, your blood sugar (aka blood glucose) levels may be consistently high. Over time, this can damage your body and lead to many other problems.

How much sugar in the blood is too much? And why is high glucose so bad for you? Here’s a look at how your levels affect your health.

What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels?

They're less than 100 mg/dL after not eating (fasting) for at least 8 hours. And they're less than 140 mg/dL 2 hours after eating.

During the day, levels tend to be at their lowest just before meals. For most people without diabetes, blood sugar levels before meals hover around 70 to 80 mg/dL. For some people, 60 is normal; for others, 90.

What's a low sugar level? It varies widely, too. Many people's glucose won't ever fall below 60, even with prolonged fasting. When you diet or fast, the liver keeps your levels normal by turning fat and muscle into sugar. A few people's levels may fall somewhat lower.

Diagnosis

Oral glucose tolerance test. After fasting for 8 hours, you get a special sugary drink. Two hours later your sugar level is higher than 200.

Random check. The doctor tests your blood sugar and it’s higher than 200, plus you’re peeing more, always thirsty, and you’ve gained or lost a significant amount of weight. He’ll then do a fasting sugar level test or an oral glucose tolerance test to confirm the diagnosis.

Any sugar levels higher than normal are unhealthy. Levels that are higher than normal, but not reaching the point of full-blown diabetes, are called prediabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 86 million people in the U.S. have this condition, which can lead to diabetes if you don't make healthy lifestyle changes that your doctor recommends. It also raises the risk for heart disease, although not as much as diabetes does. It's possible to keep prediabetes from becoming diabetes with diet and exercise.

Sugar and Your Body

Why are high blood sugar levels bad for you? Glucose is precious fuel for all the cells in your body when it's present at normal levels. But it can behave like a slow-acting poison.

High sugar levels slowly erode the ability of cells in your pancreas to make insulin. The organ overcompensates and insulin levels stay too high. Over time, the pancreas is permanently damaged.

High levels of blood sugar can cause changes that lead to a hardening of the blood vessels, what doctors call atherosclerosis.

Almost any part of your body can be harmed by too much sugar. Damaged blood vessels cause problems such as:

Kidney disease or kidney failure, requiring dialysis

Strokes

Heart attacks

Vision loss or blindness

Weakened immune system, with a greater risk of infections

Erectile dysfunction

Nerve damage, also called neuropathy, that causes tingling, pain, or less sensation in your feet, legs, and hands

Poor circulation to the legs and feet

Slow wound-healing and the potential for amputation in rare cases

Keep your blood sugar levels close to normal to avoid many of these complications. The American Diabetes Association's goals for blood sugar control in people with diabetes are 70 to 130 mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL after meals.